Sacred Books of the East eBook

“Before the boiling water publicly prepared,
O Spitama Zarathustra! let no one make bold to deny
having received from his neighbor the ox or the garment
in his possession.

“Verily I say it unto thee, O Spitama Zarathustra!
the man who has a wife is far above him who lives
in continence; he who keeps a house is far above him
who has none; he who has children is far above the
childless man; he who has riches is far above him who
has none. And of two men, he who fills himself
with meat receives in him Vohu Mano much better than
he who does not do so; the latter is all but dead;
the former is above him by the worth of an Asperena,
by the worth of a sheep, by the worth of an ox, by
the worth of a man. This man can strive against
the onsets of Asto-vidhotu; he can strive against the
well-darted arrow; he can strive against the winter
fiend, with thinnest garment on; he can strive against
the wicked tyrant and smite him on the head; he can
strive against the ungodly fasting Ashemaogha.

“On the very first time when that deed has been
done, without waiting until it is done again, down
there the pain for that deed shall be as hard as any
in this world: even as if one should cut off the
limbs from his perishable body with knives of brass,
or still worse; down there the pain for that deed
shall be as hard as any in this world: even as
if one should nail his perishable body with nails
of brass, or still worse; down there the pain for
that deed shall be as hard as any in this world:
even as if one should by force throw his perishable
body headlong down a precipice a hundred times the
height of a man, or still worse; down there the pain
for that deed shall be as hard as any in this world:
even as if one should by force impale his perishable
body, or still worse; down there the pain for this
deed shall be as hard as any in this world: to-wit,
the deed of a man, who, knowingly lying, confronts
the brimstoned, golden, truth-knowing water with an
appeal unto Rashnu and a lie unto Mithra.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!
He who, knowingly lying, confronts the brimstoned,
golden, truth-knowing water with an appeal unto Rashnu
and a lie unto Mithra, what is the penalty that he
shall pay?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“Seven hundred stripes with the Aspahe-astra,
seven hundred stripes with the Sraosho-karana.”

[Footnote 11: This chapter is the only one in
the Vendidad that deals with legal subjects.]

UNCLEANNESS[12]

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!
Here is a man watering a corn-field. The water
streams down the field; it streams again; it streams
a third time; and the fourth time, a dog, a fox, or
a wolf carries some Nasu into the bed of the stream:
what is the penalty that this man shall pay?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“There is no sin upon a man for any Nasu that
has been brought by dogs, by birds, by wolves, by
winds, or by flies. For were there sin upon a
man for any Nasu that might have been brought by dogs,
by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies, how soon
all this material world of mine would be only one
Peshotanu, bent on the destruction of righteousness,
and whose soul will cry and wail! so numberless are
the beings that die upon the face of the earth.”